I thought that these forums need a thread dedicated to Silent Hill (horror fans as we are). Feel free to post any Silent Hill related questions/comments/etc. Here's my views/impressions on the series and please note that my experience on most of it is through me watching someone else play.

Silent Hill: Propably the scariest shit I've ever seen. I remember playing the demo when I was a kid and it scared me real bad. A random fact: Even though the grey children were replaced by mumblers in the PAL version, they were still present in the demo. Really creepy.

Silent Hill 2: I don't remember much from this game apart from the fact that it had really good music. James Sunderland is a really cool character.

Silent Hill 3: This has to be the second scariest SH, mostly because of the amusement park. Those goddamn bunny costumes still give me nightmares.

The Room: Not as scary as the earlier parts, but one of my favorite SH's to date. I really liked the ghosts and almost every other monster in this game. Mostly the ghosts.

0rigins: A really short game, but had the best main character. Storywise one of my favorites. I really hated the cow demons even though I was just watching

Homecoming: My first own SH. I find this game quite hard and it really is a friggin' scary game. Way scarier than Room or 0rigins. I also liked it that Pyramid Head made a comeback. This game didn't have a big variety of monsters though :/ I'm still waiting for the next one since there's much to improve. For one, I don't quite like the item/weapons menu. It sometimes actually gets me killed. There's some really good scares in this game and I REALLY like the shadowing.

Downpour: A really solid Silent Hill title. It's scary, the locations are really well made and the variety in pretty much everything, minus the monsters, is amazing. The game seemingly took some of the best sides in Shattered Memories, Homecoming and 0rigins and mixed them in. I totally love the fact that you now have the possibility to do side quests, it keeps the game going on for longer. The main character is one of the best thus far, too, and seems genuinely disturbed by what's happening. Now for the downsides: running around gets quite boring at times when absolutely nothing is happening, the variety in enemies isn't something to call home for and the game downright lags when there's a bunch of enemies. Konami is starting to get known for releasing games half finished.

Orphan/2/3: I really didn't know that a mobile phone game could have some scary moments. Now I do. These games are mostly puzzle solving and the battles are quite meh. On the other hand, SH's have always been good at puzzles

Arcade: I really wish they ported this. I really would love to see that.

Shattered Memories: Now that I have the game I can only say... wow. You have such a big map to explore and I actually got lost sometimes. Running from the creatures in Otherworld is scary at first but when you get used to it it kinda loses it's appeal... Don't get me wrong, it's still really fun and it gives some variation to the game. I still wish there'd be more scares outside the Otherworld. Puzzles in this game: top notch. If you like SH and have played the earlier games, give this one a try.

Those were my thoughts on the Silent Hill games and I'm looking forward to the next one. I also have to add that the movie didn't hurt the games as much as RE movies did to those games, at least in my opinion. I actually enjoyed the Silent Hill movie and I've seen it a lot of times. Silent Hills have always had a great story going on, some really creepy ass moments, really fitting music and as good documents as Resident Evil. I also love the multiple endings. One more thing are the comics and people who love Silent Hill should really read them since they capture the essence of Silent Hill in a really nice and twisted way.

Ive only ever played the first one when it was released and it was scary shit. All i remember is running around after your daughter in a foggy town with creepy monsters and going to a school.I never kept in track with the series but eventually i will buy the latest ones like shattered memories,homecoming and the new one coming out next year.

very good post Mass...I have played every single Silent Hill game to date except for the moble ones...here is my rundown of the series:

SH1: the game that started it all...back in 1999 this game was on top of the survial horror genre...just a perfect scary game to play...many great moments that make you go WTF...this wasnt my first SH game but it still didnt fail at making me jump at some points

SH2: the second game is the best game in the series in my opinion...with the move to the PS2 the game was greatly improved with the graphics and gameplay...the story of the game is great with James getting a letter form his already dead wife saying "I will be waiting for you in our special place" and that special place just so happens to be Silent Hill so he goes to the town to find her but it dont turn out to be a happy vist...

SH3: Silent Hill 3 is the darkest game...the game has more freaky moments in it then you can shake a stick at...this one has many ties with the first game...this was my first Silent Hill experience and it instantly brought me into the series

SH4: The Room: Silent Hill took a different turn with SH4...konami changed inventory space and the way you fought enemies but despite the changes it was still good to play...it has some of the best monsters in the series as well...how about fighting a two headed baby?

SH: Origins: this game is the second best right behind number 2...I have this one for the psp and it is spectacular...Travis is a great character for Silent Hill...great background is given on the town and it brought back memories of the first game....needless to say it has strong ties with the first game...if you want to get into the series start with this one or of course the first one

SH: Homecoming: the first SH on next gen consoles...this is the most challenging SH...very tough to get the fighting right and there is very little ammo a true survival horror game...story was a liitle weak though but it was good to see pyramid head for the first time since the second game

SH: Shattered Memories: well this game is the weakest of the series I hate to say it...it is a complete remake of the first game but done a completely different way...the gameplay is very different...instead of fighting you just run and hide...they also gave the story a different twist then how the original first played out...dont play this one as your first SH

The movie was alright but could have been made better for SH fans

I am a huge SH fanatic so I can answer most questions thrown my way about the series

Yeah, it's a pretty tough game. Good for a challenge It's also a great transition of the series to a next gen console. Now I'm just eagerly waiting for the next game to see how much they have improved from Homecoming.

I have always loved the series. I have never once played SH3 and got a bit frustrated with SH4. Homecoming, I loved.... the first playthrough is kinda a bitch and I did get pretty pissed a time or two playing it but all in all it wasn't that bad. I just finished Homecoming on hard not that long ago. I need to go pick up 3 and play it sometime and get 4 and finally finish it. I have always loved RE more, but Silent Hill is alot more creepy and scary in my opinion.

I think the RE and SH are the most sold horror / survival w/e games. Its a tough fight, but ppl prefer RE more, Sh kinda scares the young ones, and avoids dumb people that cant solve riddles. Not that I remember older series, but I think they had some good puzzles and sutff

True, but the thing is that it gets boring just to jump around buildings and search for that blue symbol or w/e to start the puzzles.

Guards always distract me. Its like when I see the guard, I must run up to him and fool him around and I forget about my original quest.

I only had trouble with one or two. One I had to look up on the Internet and I still don't understand how they got that answer.

@Fro: I think looking for the symbols was one of the best parts. The feathers...not so much.

I enjoyed gliding trough the town and just running around, fun stuff. Eden apple puzzles were a bit tricky later on, or w/e, I remember I scanned for something longer than usual. So I got bored of puzzles. I liked the spinning one or something like that.

there will be a second Silent Hill movie but it will take some time for it to come out

What did you think of the firsst one gen?

I thought it was ok...it had some good locations and refrences from the games but it could have been better

I thought it was just ok nothing great. I was expecting a bit more but i havent played silent hill in over a decade so atthe same time hadnt a clue what to expect. But i do hope they make the next one.